Disgraced former Sacramento Bee columnist Diana Griego Erwin offered up a lame attempt to exonerate herself in an interview with Jeffrey M. Barker of the weekly Sacramento News and Review.

Griego Erwin now admits to fabricating the names of her sources but insists that she did so to “protect” the “privacy” of her subjects. (See Eric Hogue’s post, Diana Griego Erwin Writes Fiction ) While refusing to discuss the specifics of the anonymous, and possibly imaginary characters described in her column, she cast herself as the victim of a “witch hunt.”

In her April 10th column, He Works, Has a Family, Pays Taxes—but Can’t Leave to See His Folks—about illegal alien “Israel Bueno”, Griego Erwin did not inform her readers that “Bueno” is not his real name until half way through her piece.

If “Bueno” isn’t his real name, then how can we believe the rest of what Griego Erwin writes—that he came to the US when he was only 13 after hiding in a desert bush for safety, that he now works seven days a week and that he longs to be an American?

Griego Erwin justified her deception by saying, “I changed it ["Bueno’s" name] because he is here illegally.”

But in fact, “Bueno” has next to nothing at all to worry about. His employers and everyone else in his town knows he is illegal. Only an infinitesimal chance exists that “Bueno” would be detained—and less that he would be deported.

So why doesn’t Griego Erwin go with the truth? And if “Bueno” isn’t willing to talk on the record, then why doesn’t Griego Erwin find someone who will?

That shouldn’t take long given that there may be 20 million illegal aliens in the U.S.

Update: Griego Erwin Not Only Made Up People, She Made Up Cats, Too

This week Sacramento Bee readers demanded to know more about the fraud perpetuated on them by fiction-writer and former columnist Diana Griego Erwin.

And the Bee agrees that the readers have a right to know

According to an “on-going” investigation into Griego Erwin’s columns, the Bee could not verify names or places referenced in seven of her last twelve articles. The specifics are listed in public editor Armando Acuna’s Sunday column, Specifics allow readers to judge for themselves

Further details will appear in the Bee as they unfold, promises Acuna.

In what may be her biggest breach, Griego Erwin not only made up people’s names, she also created two cats, “Christine” and “Queen Sweetness.”

Pets should be left out of this mess.

The astonishing internet resource Wikipedia has a judicious entry for Free Republic which uses references to VDARE to anchor its summary of the opposition case:

On some issues, however, the Free Republic membership is divided… with neoconservatism being represented in the large majority of posts…

Immigration Rift

Robinson has taken informal positions in favor of George W. Bush’s amnesty program for illegal immigration, causing a substantial rift in the membership of the site. The difference of opinion has allegedly resulted in Robinson’s decision to ban several hundred posters and the resignation of many others.[3] (http://www.vdare.com/misc/gheen_050216_jimrob.htm) Critics on the right, such as VDARE have likened Robinson’s activities to political purges and suggest that he screens new members of the site who take a differing position on immigration from his own.[4] (http://vdare.com/misc/gheen_050211_shot.htm) Robinson is also said to engage in censorship of articles that criticize illegal immigration”

(“Informal”? JimRob could hardly be more more systematic in his repression of immigration reformers. “Covert” perhaps.)
The Wikipedia note closes by listing a series of “External Links” with VDARE’s FreeRepublic Archive being the main skeptic resource.

I found this reference (by following a search on the blog search engine Technorati ) on the bulletin board of the Friends of Liberty
website where the poster commented:

Once a good site. Owner Jim Robinson pulled a classic “bait & switch” routine on hundreds of thousands of contributors to his erstwhile “online forum for independent, grassroots conservatism…I pity the fool who ever gave a nickel to that skunk. Stupid is as stupid does. Etc.

I am delighted to see VDARE.COM cited in this way– confirming that I was right to turn to the internet after being purged
from National Review.

Where would we be without the Internet?